Audiobook Review: Sonora by Jenni L. Walsh
Sonora
Author: Jenni L. Walsh
Narrator: Piper Goodeve
Published: October 28, 2025
Audiobook: 10 hours 9 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: October 20-29, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
Inspired by a true story of one of the first female horse divers, Sonora explores a world of daring feats and extraordinary adventures set in the heyday of the American carnival scene. This book vividly captures the spirit of a brave woman who defied societal norms to follow her dreams, diving into the unknown with courage and resilience.
Sonora Webster is penniless but plucky, and despite the looming Great Depression, she follows her wanderlust, answering an advert to dive with horses. Little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a world teeming with danger, excitement, and fierce competition.
As Sonora delves into the cutthroat world of show business, complete with human cannonballs, trapeze aerial acts, and juggling bears, her undeniable talent and unwavering dedication propel her into the limelight, making her a sensation, and after marrying the show runner, her entire life becomes their act and their horses. But she soon learns that a diver–and her horse–are only as good as their last show, a show some are hellbent on shutting down. When a tragic accident changes her life forever, can Sonora muster the courage to climb the fifty-foot tower and dive again, risking her life to save the show and their horses from falling into the wrong hands?
Jessica’s Review:
If you grew up in the 1990s then you more than likely saw the Disney movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. I watched it so many times growing up and I saw this audiobook about Sonora Carver and jumped on it. It is Historical Fiction and follows the same path as the movie, with differences as it is based closer on Carver’s actual life. Walsh used Carver’s memoir as a basis for this novel.
Listening to this novel, brought back so many pleasant memories of watching Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken. I did not realize that Sonora was from Waycross, Georgia until it was mentioned in the novel!
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and knew the story because of the film, but still felt I learned some things. The narrator Piper Goodeve, captured Sonora perfectly! From a spunky teen at the beginning of the story to the determined woman that she became, beating the odds despite what happened to her. Listening to this novel and now knowing there is a biography written by Carver herself, I plan on listening to it as I got it on Audible and then rewatching Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.
**Be sure to listen to the author’s note at the end of the novel to learn more about Sonora’s life.
Thank you to Walsh for the enjoyable novel and bringing back the nostalgia I had for the film growing! And for piquing my interest in the biography! I will also be looking at what else she has written to read in the future!
Many thanks to the publisher Harper Muse Audiobooks for granting me an audiocopy to listen to and review. I really enjoyed it!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK